Beef fillet with Parmesan basil béarnaise

SERVES 10-12

A beef fillet is as impressive as it is easy to cook and serve for a crowd. Get your butcher to prepare the eye fillet, removing silver skin and tying with kitchen string at 5cm intervals. This encourages even cooking and makes slicing easier.

1.5-2kg beef eye fillet

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp sea salt

4 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

3 tsp cracked black pepper

2 whole garlic bulbs, tops

removed or halved

500g vine tomatoes

1 cup black olives

1 Preheat oven to 220oC and place a large, shallow roasting dish in to preheat.

2 Allow the beef fillet to come to room temperature before cooking it. Rub with oil and then sprinkle liberally with salt.

3 Place the fillet in the hot oven dish and sear for 3-5 minutes, turning to brown all sides. Reduce oven to 200oC.

4 Sprinkle the thyme and pepper onto a large chopping board. Remove the hot fillet from the dish and use tongs to roll it through the pepper and thyme before returning it to the oven. Add the garlic bulbs and tomatoes to the dish, then cook for a further 35 minutes. Poke the meat with your finger to check how ‘ done’ it is. When cooked to medium-rare, the fillet ought to have tightened somewhat but still have some give in it. See the note and keep checking every 5 minutes from the 35-minute mark.

5 When ready, remove the fillet and cover with foil and a folded tea towel. Rest it for 15 minutes before slicing. Add the olives to the roasting dish with the garlic and tomatoes, and keep this warm until you’re ready to serve.

6 Serve the beef with ovenroasted tomatoes, garlic and olives, drizzled with pan juices and Parmesan basil béarnaise on the side.